Clued In : How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again

Rating:
Summary: He says it all himself....
Review: .
"If you're a CEO, Vice President, department head, or manager, I hope you're not just simply aware that your customers experience a countless number of clues that affect the total value they associate with your company, but also that you recognise the need to do something to begin to manage those clues with rigour. The systematic management of clues is fundamental to your future. Companies that lack it could perish, and those with it will flourish." ibid. page 236

And does Lewis Carbone tell you 'How' and 'Why', you bet he does.

An essential read for all companies that want to make it in the 21st centuary

Rating:
Summary: He says it all himself....
Review: .
"If you're a CEO, Vice President, department head, or manager, I hope you're not just simply aware that your customers experience a countless number of clues that affect the total value they associate with your company, but also that you recognise the need to do something to begin to manage those clues with rigour. The systematic management of clues is fundamental to your future. Companies that lack it could perish, and those with it will flourish." ibid. page 236

And does Lewis Carbone tell you 'How' and 'Why', you bet he does.

An essential read for all companies that want to make it in the 21st centuary

Rating:
Summary: The MUST READ Book on Customer Experience Management
Review: Customer Experience Management is an emerging and vitally important set of principles and disciplines that should concern every enterprise, profit and non-profit alike. Until recently, however, systematic approaches to Customer Experience Management have seldom reached print. Those that have have either failed to make the case at a deep enough level to evoke change, or have failed to provide readily transferable principles.

"Clued In," by Lewis Carbone, meets both challenges brilliantly. First, as the head of a non-profit deeply concerned with the guest experience, I am well aware that the first and perhaps greatest challenge in managing the customer experience is managing change within one's own organization. "Clued In" comes to the rescue! Using compelling stories and real life case studies, Carbone illustrates why Customer Experience Management is so vital as a value proposition, and he does it in a warm and readable style that will appeal even to those who typically shy away from business books.

Second, many of the recent books and articles that discuss aspects of Customer Experience Management expect too much of the reader. Most tell stories and share principles. Yet often the stories are too remote and the principles -- when there are principles -- are too abstract to allow the reader to make immediate applications to his or her own enterprise. "Clued In" is the great exception. Carbone goes well beyond the success stories of his clients to share transferable principles that you can put to work immediately in your organization. I know, because that is precisely what we've done in ours. Within weeks of the book's publication, we were already putting "Clued In" to work within several of our teams, with inspiring results.

I have read literally everything I can get my hands on regarding Customer Experience Management. "Clued In" is the one MUST READ book in this vitally important area. I recommend it enthusiastically.

Rating:
Summary: The next big thing in marketing? I think so!!
Review: I've got a bookshelf full of business books. I read the first few chapters of a new one, and much more often than not, up on the shelf it goes. Not this time.

In a world of increasingly commoditized products and services, marketers continue to focus on building the brand...to differentiate, command premium prices, and maintain customer loyalty. How come great brands are being sent to the graveyard faster and in greater quantities than ever before?

Lewis Carbone's got an insightful, provocative, paradigm-busting view of the world. Sure, how customers feel about brands is important. But, it's how customers feel about themselves when they encounter brands that drives today's differentiating value proposition.

He provides an easy to understand treatise on managing customer experience, chock full of real world examples. You get to understand experience from the customer's point of view, as opposed to that of the seller. He helps you look for those clues that make experiences good or bad, and keep customers coming back, or running to the competition.

Anyone who is responsible for helping to build the top and bottom line of products, services and companies can't afford not to read this book. Or, put it in your bookshelf unread at your own risk.

Rating:
Summary: This should become a business best seller
Review: There are so many business books with this or that approach to fixing what ails companies that it is hard to take them seriously and impossible to evaluate them all. What is sad about this is that good ideas tend to be seen in the same color of paint as the less than good ideas if they can be seen and heard at all.

This book is one of the very good ideas that should be seen, heard, and implemented. The main insight is that companies can compete more effectively by paying attention to how customers experience doing business with them. Too often companies measure what customers think about their company and its products. Mr. Carbone makes an effective case that what really matters is how the totality of the experience makes the customers feel of themselves. This is a big difference and a key insight. Companies that provide experiences that make customers feel good about themselves are going to have happy and repeat customers.

This book provides how companies can gather, measure, and use the clues customers provide through their interactions with the purchasing experience. The author discusses the methods necessary for implementing the steps necessary to take advantage of what was learned in the marketplace.

Mr. Carbone is wise enough to know that getting "Clued In" is not easy, nor is it a panacea. It is, however, an important tool for competing effectively. He also points out that what is a surprise and delight today may become the standard of delivery tomorrow and new clues must be gathered and implemented to gain a competitive advantage.

This isn't a long book, but it does offer substance for thought and action. I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, true dedication to understandng consumers' emotions
Review: We researchers and marketers always have known that the concept of "branding" was somehow incomplete; thankfully, Lou Carbone not only has identified the missing customer value building blocks for us, but also has given us a framework for how to put them together and ensure they stay in place. In doing so, he has succeeded at putting the customer first and foremost to an extent that never has been accomplished to date. Perhaps most importantly, Lou has demonstrated a deep commitment to understanding consumers' emotions, and to creating good feelings for them. For all of this, I applaud him.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, true dedication to understandng consumers' emotions
Review: We researchers and marketers always have known that the concept of "branding" was somehow incomplete; thankfully, Lou Carbone not only has identified the missing customer value building blocks for us, but also has given us a framework for how to put them together and ensure they stay in place. In doing so, he has succeeded at putting the customer first and foremost to an extent that never has been accomplished to date. Perhaps most importantly, Lou has demonstrated a deep commitment to understanding consumers' emotions, and to creating good feelings for them. For all of this, I applaud him.